KOTOR: Memories
by Daven Thrar
Summary: What if Revan remembered more than just random visions of the star maps? What if he started to remember everything? Majorly AU from the beginning. Smart, tactical Revan.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Beginnings and the Endar Spire

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you see here that could possible make me money. Thanks for reminding me, now I'm depressed.**

Author's Note: For those who don't read my profile, just don't expect steady updates or anything. I'll do my best to keep them coming but sometimes life happens. Anyway, this is my first fanfic so don't be too harsh. Any complaints on names, age or events will be ignored. This story is AU from the very beginning and even tiny actions can cause drastic changes. Also, not all of Revan's memories will be shown in depth. Some will just be explained when he got them which will explain how he can use certain force powers. Writing all of them out is just too much for me to do for a fanfic most people will never read. Don't worry though! Every memory that has particular significance to the plot of the story will be shown.

Okay … _**On with the story!**_

_A gentle hum filled the air, interspersed with the crashing sound of thunder. Blue and green flashed and struck. The air was thick with tension and static. A boy of about eight years old and an old woman were dancing an intricate yet deadly dance. The young boy had a confident, charisma that had made him popular among the other initiates. Not only that, he possessed skill and talent which the Jedi haven't seen in any other. Perhaps that was the reason why any master would answer his questions, or even offer him extra training. Even though he was apprenticed to Kreia, every other master wanted a hand in his growth. Whispers followed him everywhere. He was Revan._

_The woman was old, yet seemed incredibly dexterous despite this. She was a master of the Jedi Order and this boy's teacher. She had found him when he was younger and discovered that his midichlorian levels were the highest ever recorded. Even young, even now, she could see the force itself pulse behind the boy's green eyes. She knew that the other initiates, apprentices, and padawans unconsciously followed her charge. With midnight black hair, jade green eyes, and handsome features, the boy was the image of a strong leader. The woman was aware that the other masters taught her padawan things as well. She didn't care. She recognized that he was special, that he would surpass them all. He had a way of looking at things that made him greater than all the others, or it soon would, at any rate. She was Kreia._

_As time passed, the dance grew more intricate. Revan moved with a practiced ease through Shii-cho, even at this age. Yet, despite his skill, Kreia could only frown at his performance. Something was off with him. He had been better than this just yesterday. He had moved faster, struck harder. What could have altered that in a single day? Finally, green penetrated blue and the air began to smell of burned flesh. Even with the lightsabers on a training setting, small burns were received upon contact. Revan stepped back and deactivated his lightsaber. Kreia marveled at how he didn't make a sound, but he was always like that. 'Never acknowledge weakness to any but yourself,' he had told her once. It will make others lose faith in you or seek to use it against you. The only one who needs to know it is you, so that it can be corrected.'_

_Statements like those made Revan who he was. Still, Kreia wanted to know what was wrong with her student's performance. "It didn't escape my notice, Revan, that you didn't use the force to augment your speed and strength today. Why?"_

_"I apologize, Master Kreia," Revan answered quickly. "I have recently concluded that practicing in that manner is detrimental to my overall progress."_

_"What do you mean Revan?" Kreia was truly curious now. What new idea had Revan come up with that would push him, yet again, leagues beyond his peers and, dare she think it, far too close to levels of power he is too young to have._

_"Well," Revan began slowly, as though thinking carefully as to how to word his thoughts. "From the way it is taught to us, and from our best examinations and trials, the force augments our own base level abilities. Some can make themselves move faster with the force than others can, but that is simply a difference in those people's ability to control the force. What I'm saying is, people with a Knight's proficiency in boosting their speed would gain the same increase in speed from the force. The difference is in their speed without the force. Am I right so far, Master?"_

_Kreia was surprised, but thought about it for awhile. "Yes," she said at last, "that sounds right."_

_Reassured, Revan continued, "Well, a person's ability to control the force can be done through meditation. So practicing, while channeling the force, is detrimental to the growth of the actual person because all they're doing is using the force to become stronger. Their muscles remain the same. They haven't become stronger or faster. So, I've decided that I will practice without the force and perform my usual meditation exercises to increase my control of the force. That way both abilities grow separate from each other and when I combine them they are far greater!" Revan finished his explanation looking incredibly excited about his discovery. However, Kreia could see one big flaw in this method, and decided to make him aware of it._

_"If you train like that, though, you won't be able to properly use your combined abilities when the time comes. What if you jump too far? Strike too hard or weak? Your idea is good Revan but without practicing with them combined you'll either overestimate or underestimate the increase when it occurs. You wouldn't know your own limits."_

_After her explanation, she waited to see what Revan would say. At first, he looked crushed. For some time he was deep in thought, until finally he looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Master Kreia! You're right about that flaw. Still, I think if I add a single practice session a week, where I will use the abilities combined, it should counter balance this fault." _

_Once again, Kreia was speechless. Revan's idea had merit and you could tell that he would probably try it no matter what she said. Still, he had found a way to bypass the only flaw she could tell. If this new training method worked half as well as Revan speculated it would, he could reach Knighthood by his teen years! Shaking her head with a rueful smile, Kreia consented and said she looked forward to his progress. Happily, Revan ran from the room to do his homework from the day's classes. Kreia just smiled, oh yes…he had __**potential**__._

_Fog blocked all vision. Nothing could be seen. Suddenly, yellow cut through the dense fog. Yellow and red fought against each other. This was not the safe dance of the blue and green. No, this was death or life. Victory or defeat. A hooded, dark jedi faced off against a young woman in her early twenties. The young woman wore a very form fitting, tan bodysuit while the dark jedi wore traditional robes all in black. After some minutes, the young woman found an opening and struck. The dark jedi fell and suddenly, knew no more._

With a start, Daven Thrar shot up in his bunk holding his head. Daven knew he wasn't normal. For one, ever since he had woken up in the jedi temple on Coruscant, he had been having these flashes of Revan's childhood. What kind of normal man has visions, which look clearer than any of their own memories, of the ex-Sith Lord? He had kept these visions to himself, though. Something told him the jedi wouldn't release him if he had. Still, the knowledge in the visions disconcerted him the most. Why would visions of force powers that only a small percentage of the galaxy can use bother him, you ask? Because, for some warped reason, he could use them too. The visions were, odd as it sounded, like relearning things he had forgotten to him and he could replicate everything in them as though his body had done them before. It was all just so… natural.

Daven couldn't help agreeing with what Revan had just said, though. Those were his reasons for not using his 'gifts' more often. Practice without them and when the time comes, be really surprised when you perform better than you expected and don't die. Despite this, it disturbed him that he agreed with Darth Revan. Maybe Revan was just a kid then, but it still upset him. Deciding that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep, he grabbed his gear and suited up. A standard scout outfit, his stealth field generator, and his short sword made up his ensemble. Quickly, he grabbed some of the on-hand med supplies just in case he'd get in a situation where he'd need them. Two medpacs would be enough.

Unlike most people who fought with the Republic, Daven didn't use blasters. Why would he need to? Everynight he dreams of more and more of Revan's combat training. Revan's skill with a blade was legendary, even at eight the boy was probably better than anyone who wasn't a jedi. Plus, with the force to augment his speed and create a defensive shield around him if he needed it, he could get in close without getting hit. Slipping into the stance he had seen in his dream, he began practicing. Even if he had Revan's memories in his head and even if his body remembered the moves, he would practice for several reasons. First, it would increase his natural proficiency. Second, it would keep him in good physical condition and, as Revan just pointed out; increase his base abilities without the force. That way, when he used the force, nobody would be able to stop him.

An echoing boom resounded as Daven was thrown to the ground. Someone was attacking the ship! He was back up in an instant and started moving towards the door when it was opened from the other side. Without a pause, Daven was in a defensive posture, waiting to see who it was. The jumpsuit of a standard republic soldier was the first clue that the man was an ally. Relaxing, if only slightly, Daven nodded his head at the man.

"We're under attack. We have to rescue Bastilla!" The young officer said. "I'm Trask Ulgo, your bunkmate here on the Endar Spire. We work different shifts so you probably haven't seen me."

Oh great, Daven thought. Why does he get stuck with the greenie? Deciding that he would have to take charge, Daven just said, "Cool it soldier. Bastilla will have been evacuated first. She is top priority on this ship. Our duty is to make our way to the escape pods and rescue any surviving members of our crew. That way, more of us can live to fight another day. Also, you need to temper your attitude. This isn't some glorified video game. You fight and you win, or you die. You're gonna provide long range support with that blaster of yours while I strike close. Now, let's move out."

Trask just seemed to stare blankly for a moment. He obviously wasn't expecting Daven to take charge of the situation. Too bad, because that's just the way it was going to be. Pushing past, Daven decided to take point. Gathering his concentration, Daven opened his senses to the force. Sensing two Sith soldiers just past the blast door up ahead, he motioned Trask into position. Slowly, Trask obeyed the order. However, the moment the doors opened, Trask yelled something that sounded suspiciously like 'For the Republic!' and charged into the open to shoot the Sith soldiers. Sensing the danger to his only ally, Daven put on a burst of speed and charged the sith that wasn't being bogged down by fire. The Sith saw him coming but wasn't able to draw a sword or melee weapon before Daven had run him through. The sound of blaster fire stopped and a body hit the floor. Trask had taken out the other soldier.

When Trask walked over the first thing that Daven did was punch him. Hard. With Trask doubled over and panting, Daven snarled, "What were you thinking? You should have stayed behind the doors and taken pot shots at the sith while I distracted them. We had a tactical advantage because they didn't know how many of us there were! Instead, you run off and try to get us both killed! Start acting and thinking like a soldier!"

Trask looked rather hurt by the stinging words, but when he looked back into Daven's eyes it was clear to see he'd had the desired effect. The boy would follow orders and help to the best of his abilities. Suddenly, his comm unit sparked to life and a voice said, "This is Carth Onasi. Bastilla's escape pod is away. I repeat, Bastilla's escape pod is away. All remaining crew members please head to the nearest escape pods. Over."

Looking at Trask, Daven decided not to say anymore. If Bastilla was away, then they'd be left behind if they didn't hurry. With a jerk of the head, he signaled that they keep moving. Trask caught the hint and they hurried onwards. Sensing another pair of sith in the room just in front of them, Daven caught Trask's arm. Trask looked at him oddly, but understood when he nodded a head to either side of the door. Trask quickly chose to stand on the left side and prepared to open the door. His blaster was trained warily towards the door, waiting. Smiling at the soldier's newfound professionalism, Daven took the other side and gave the signal.

When the door opened, Trask immediately laid down cover fire so his partner could get in close. A well aimed shot actually took down one sith while the other couldn't move from his position lest he suffer a similar fate. Standing when the fire stopped, the last thing the sith was expected was a blade to be sticking through his heart. Still, there it was. Pulling out his blade, Daven allowed the sith to fall to the ground. As Trask headed his way, something on the soldier's belt caught Daven's eyes and he grabbed it. Standing, he found Trask looking at him weirdly, but he just shrugged and handed the newbie the frag grenade the sith had been carrying.

Ignoring the attempts of Trask to return the explosive, Daven opened the door to the next room. A dark jedi and a jedi were fighting in the hallway. Trask, catching the sight, added his own two cents, "A dark jedi! We'd better stand back. In a fight like this, we'd only get in the way."

Daven rolled his eyes and responded, "You would, perhaps. Attempting to fight a force user with a blaster is the same as putting the thing to your own head. My, swordsmanship could actually help if I had a cortosis woven blade. Plus, you've got that lovely grenade now. If we could get some space between them we could blow the dark jedi to pieces. Listening to propaganda and rumors is pointless. Jedi and dark jedi are not invincible. Nothing is impossible unless you don't try, fool!"

_"Nothing is impossible unless you don't try fool!" A dark, hooded figure spoke to his robed companion. The demonic mask and armor were symbols of Revan after a year of war. Not that it mattered. Three mandalorian warships were hovering over the recently liberated Taris. Malak and Revan were the only jedi on site and they had few soldiers on hand. The situation looked truly dire for the young general and his friend. Revan was still determined to do the impossible._

_Stalking forward, Revan came to stop thirty paces in front of everybody else. The recently freed slaves watched their savior in awe. The soldiers watched their leader in shock. Malak watched his best friend in concern. What was Revan doing?_

_Revan raised both of his hands skyward, palms facing the left most starship. After a few tense seconds Revan began to move his hands towards the ship on the far right. Why were his arms shaking? Then, they saw it. Every soldier watched as the starship Revan had first pointed at slowly changed course until it ran into the ship on the far right. Two starships exploded in a furious ball of light! Revan had just destroyed two of the ships! Raising his hands to the last ship, Revan pulled down. Just like before, the ship came crashing down before them all. It stopped mere feet before crushing Revan beneath its bulk!_

_Without a word, Revan lit his azure blade and walked aboard alone. Moving from room to room, any crew still living was quickly dispatched until only the general on board remained. That general was brought out alive. In front of the soldiers who had doubted, in front of Malak who had hesitated, and in front of the slaves that had hoped, Revan killed the general. That was the day that Revan became truly feared by the mandalorians. Sure, his strategies could win battles. That was nothing compared to what he had done that day. _

_He had single handedly taken down three warships. A crew of three hundred mandalorians on the one he had entered had been killed, no slaughtered. Yet, there hadn't been a scratch on him. He became deified that day. Every mandalorian, every battle, every campaign was considered an automatic loss the moment __**he**__ appeared on the scene. To the republic, he became their hero, not just a great leader but a one man army. To his men and fellow jedi, he became a symbol of power. To the jedi who heard of this grand act from safe in their tower on Coruscant, he was a fraud who had somehow staged it all. After all, even the entire jedi council could not move an entire warship; an eighteen year old who turned his back on the teachings couldn't either. Well, let the jedi believe what they want. To Revan, this was the day he had finally become what he was always meant to be: the best._

Shaking his head, Daven forced himself to come back to the present. Okay, so Revan had been stronger than any other force user. Everyone knew that. It was why jedi never faced him alone and why Malak had only chosen to betray him by attacking from behind. Any other method was suicide. Idly, Daven wondered if he would be able to do that now that he had seen it. That's the way his other visions worked. Looking outside a nearby view window, he ignored the battle between the jedi and the sith for a moment. Seeing a nearby sith cruiser he decided to try.

Bringing all of his focus to bear, Daven grabbed hold of the cruiser in his mind. With a steady, firm image of what he wanted, he focused his power to make it as he wanted. At first nothing happened and he thought he had failed. After a full minute, right before he gave up, the ship started moving! Astonishingly, the ship moved exactly as he saw in his mind and crashed into another nearby cruiser. Daven wanted to shout for joy! What power! Not only did he hold Revan's memories, but he apparently held Revan's power! Suddenly Daven felt ridiculously drained. He almost collapsed where he stood. Sweat poured off of him and he started shaking.

Well, it appeared that he needed to practice gaining some control over his power before he threw it around like that. Still, this was an amazing discovery. Turning his attention back to the fight he saw the dark jedi get struck down. As quickly as they could, Trask and Daven moved to stand beside the jedi. Just as they reached her, four sith rounded a corner and started firing on them. Almost on instinct, Daven stepped in front of the jedi and Trask. A raised palm was all that stood between him and dozens of blaster bolts. His flimsy defense held, though, as every blaster bolt bounced away without ever once touching his hand. Not waiting for the jedi or Trask, he dashed down the corridor with speed far greater than any normal man should have.

These sith were prepared for him though. They had put their blasters away when they saw they couldn't hit their targets. The four sith stood in pairs, vibroblades drawn. Despite this, Daven didn't slow his charge even a fraction. His memories of combat with a blade from Revan and his own extensive practice made him confident. Four people would be no problem for him at all. You see, even though most of the memories he had were from when Revan was between five and sixteen years old, even at that age Revan had been great. He knew all seven forms of traditional lightsaber combat before his fifteenth birthday! It was hardly a wonder that he became the greatest swordsman alive. Revan had lived up to Kreia's expectations and become a knight just days after he turned sixteen.

The soldiers never stood a chance. Flowing makashi parries made two of the soldiers kill an ally. Then, the fast and powerful strikes of juyo took out one of the others. In all of three seconds, he had reached the soldiers and killed three of them. The final sith took a step back in fear but still readied his stance. Acknowledging the man's bravery, Daven gave a short nod of the head before lunging. Sparks flashed as their blades clashed. This man was fairly good with a sword. Every strike that was made was parried, every thrust diverted. There seemed to be no way to hit this man. The soldier didn't even attempt an offense in the midst of Daven's fierce attacks. After about ten full seconds of getting nowhere, Daven allowed an opening in his lower left guard. As predicted, the enemy struck only to find their sword blocked. Pushing the sword away from his opponent's body, Daven dealt the killing blow. The man fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from a slice across the neck.

When Daven turned around, he was greeted by the incredulous stares of the jedi and Trask. Both walked up to him and Trask began to search the bodies for anything that might be useful. He found a handful of credit chips and another medpacs to add to their stock. Finished with his looting, Trask turned towards his companions. Daven and the jedi were staring each other down. If Trask had to hazard a guess, the jedi wanted to know how Daven had done all of that and Daven had refused to answer.

The jedi spoke up icily, "Very well. Expect the council to hear about this when we reach Dantooine, if you don't feel like answering me." Daven merely rolled his eyes, and Trask just smirked at his correct assumption. "My name," the jedi continued, as though reluctant, "is Kara Nima. I was recently promoted to the position of Jedi Knight." The pride in her voice at her latest accomplishment was obvious.

Daven looked entirely unimpressed by this declaration. Raising an eyebrow he merely remarked, "You look about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Am I right?" A nod was his answer so he continued, "Well, I don't see the accomplishment then. According to records available to the public all jedi become knights around that age if they have the potential to become a knight at all. So, basically you're just average and making yourself sound superior over nothing. Like all other jedi," finished outlining his conclusion, Daven turned and continued moving towards the bridge without a second glance towards Kara. Snorting at the look of shock on the jedi's face Trask moved to follow as well.

She caught up to them right at the entrance to the bridge. Kara, however, was now acting far colder than she had been earlier. Ignoring her, Trask and Daven took up their positions beside the door and flipped the switch. The doors opened just in time for them to see an explosion go off, killing every Republic and Sith soldier on the bridge. After the smoke cleared they moved quickly to the other doors. Opening the doors, they rushed into the chamber that connected them to the starboard side of the ship. They were almost to the escape pods!

"I sense something behind this door." Kara moved towards the other door as she spoke. Without warning the door opened and a sith came walking out. Double-bladed lightsaber in hand, this sith gave off the vibes of a master. "Run," Kara said. "I'll hold him off!" She charged blindly in and locked the door behind her. Daven raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but to not miss her. The woman was a nuisance and couldn't follow orders. Signaling to Trask, they continued to move quickly.

His comm unit crackled to life as Carth chose to give another message. "You two are the only members of the crew on this ship still alive. There are three sith between your position and mine. One is guarding the hallway and the two others are trying to gain access to this room with the escape pods. You'll need to find a way to bypass them and quickly. I can't wait much longer."

Before the signal was cut, Daven spoke up and quickly outlined a plan. "Carth, I can take out the one in the hall, but I have something better for the other two. When we open the door, they'll turn to face us. After that you open your door and we can get them in a pincer movement."

"Alright, soldier." Carth responded. "Your idea's a good one. We'll go with that. Just hurry up. Carth Onasi, out," and the radio died. Clipping it back to his belt, Daven turned to Trask and signaled for the grenade. Trask understood and handed it to him. Daven activated his stealth field and walked towards the sith standing in the hall. An explosion off to the side caught the man's attention and he moved to examine the area. Perfect. A twitch of the thumb activated the explosive and a flick of the wrist slid it silently under the soldier's feet. The sith hadn't even noticed. Deactivating his stealth field, Daven turned to Trask and motioned him forward.

The noise of the two moving towards the adjacent room caused the sith to turn. Just as he was about to open fire on them, the explosive beneath his feet turned him into a corpse. A calming breath and the two stood, once again, at the ready on either side of the door. Without preamble, Daven opened the door and Trask opened fire. Both sith turned prepared to fight back. Suddenly, the door behind them opened with a whoosh and Carth caught them from behind. It took merely a few seconds before both of the sith were dead. An inspection of one of the corpses revealed an odd vibrosword. It was woven with cortosis but it was of a make and model that Daven hadn't seen before. Shrugging he clipped it to his belt. Revan's memories of jar'kai gave him the knowledge to wield this with his other blade easily enough.

"Come on," Carth said urgently. "We need to move! Bastilla's pod is away and we only have this one escape pod left. We need to hurry before the sith blow us all to bits!"

Daven couldn't agree with Carth more so he and Trask quickly ran into the escape pod and Carth joined them shortly. It was a bumpy ride to the planet below, Taris from the looks of it. On landing, Daven's safety belt came unbuckled and he flew across the pod. Hitting his head, he registered darkness creeping into his vision and then knew no more.

Read and Review! It'll make me happy!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Taris – A Leader is Born

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything you see here worth money. **

Author's Note: I posted these two chapters together. Don't expect the next one for awhile. Like I said before, my posts are gonna be erratic.

**­­­­**

_A yellow blade fought for dominance with red. A girl, no older than twenty, fought against the last dark jedi on the bridge. The skill and grace in her movements entranced Revan. When he first sensed her presence, he had dismissed her. Her aura was wild and uncontrolled, the signs of a Padawan or new Knight. She was no threat to him at all. Still, it was obvious that she was going to win against his dark jedi. _

_The one soldier with the boarding party lunged for Revan. Not even deigning to take his eyes from the graceful dance of yellow and red, Revan brought up his hand and the soldier was suspended in the air, clutching at his throat. Just as the young jedi and her companions struck down their opponents and began to move forward, he clenched his fist and broke the soldier's neck. He watched as the four jedi grouped up and took their stances. Only four jedi? What was the council thinking? This would be easy._

_"You cannot win, Revan!" The girl had stepped up and shouted a bold declaration. Passionate grey eyes flashed in warning at him and still he could barely contain his amusement at what she said. He couldn't win? He had single handedly fought hundreds of mandalorians, battalions of republic troops, and a group of ten jedi masters. Of those, only three of the masters had survived. All of the republic and mandalorian soldiers had died. The only reason those jedi had escaped was because they ran from him like cowards and he had decided not to chase them down. He owed those three quite a bit, anyway._

_Still, the girl actually believed herself capable of beating him? He couldn't decide if it was amusing or sad. Deciding that he should not humiliate her naiveté with a response, he drew his blade in a graceful arc and settled perfectly into his own stance. He was in the process of calling up his power when he felt the disturbance. Malak had betrayed him! Knowing that he would be left with no defenses before the jedi and knowing that they could not be allowed to know what he knew just yet he did something desperate. _

_He sought the deepest, darkest corner of his mind and buried himself there. Every memory and experience locked behind tight shields. Without constant reinforcement the shields would drop and his memories would slowly trickle back, but the jedi would hopefully assume him to have some brain damage by then and leave him alone. Finishing with his last minute defenses, Revan felt his back explode in pain as his bridge was attacked. As darkness took him he had only one thought. 'You destroyed all of my plans for the Republic's prosperity, Malak. You will pay!'_

With a start Daven awoke. What the hell? Plans for the Republic's prosperity? Memories buried in the subconscious just waiting to come forth? What could this possible mean? Stumbling from the bed he found himself on, Daven searched for the fresher. As he splashed cool water against his face he thought about his situation.

Apparently, he was Revan. That made quite a bit of sense. It explained why the jedi had personally involved themselves in the 'memory loss' of a standard soldier. It explained the memories, the power, and the skills he couldn't remember learning. It also explained his tactical mind. He had spent years honing himself to process things in a certain manner and even without his memories his mind would still behave as it had before. So, he was Darth Revan. Thinking about his name, he almost laughed as he realized what the jedi had done. Rearrange the letters of his name and Daven Thrar became Darth Revan!

Walking into the main room, he sat at the foot of the bed to meditate and assimilate as much of his old memories as possible. Now that he knew what was happening he could control it, and they would need every advantage to get off of this planet before Malak did something rash. Looking over at his companions he frowned. Carth and Trask were both here but Bastilla was nowhere to be seen. Had her escape pod been shot down? Was she scouting the planet? Deciding that these questions would be answered when the others woke up, Daven settled into a light meditation.

By morning light, when he sensed Carth and Trask beginning to stir, Revan had reabsorbed all of his memories up until the day after his sixteenth birthday, the day he achieved knighthood. Snorting, he remembered a twenty-six year old jedi who was so proud of accomplishing what he had managed a decade younger. Still, having the knowledge equivalent to a jedi knight should help in their situation. Plus, Revan had been a master at all forms taught to jedi by that time. The seven traditional forms and jar'kai would make his swords deadly whether he used one or both. The four force forms would empower his force abilities and allow him to have greater control over his power.

Slowly, he rose to face his companions. The first to realize he was awake was Carth. "What are you doing awake?" Revan didn't miss the hostility in the tone. What had he done to antagonize the man?

"Carth! We've been through this before," Trask cut in exasperatedly. "If it weren't for Daven I wouldn't be alive right now! He can be trusted." Ah, trust issues was it? That made sense Revan thought. The soldiers that followed him and became his sith army had betrayed everyone they left behind. This man had lost something important from a betrayal and no longer trusted anyone. That would complicate things, but it shouldn't interfere much. The man was still a soldier so he would follow orders as long as they didn't harm the republic.

"And I've told you Trask: no way should someone with no combat experience have made it off that ship! The fact that even you admit that the only reason you did was because of this man makes him suspicious! Add on to that, I saw him using the force on the ship! Nobody can move that fast but a jedi! I want to know just what the hell is going on, right now!" Carth exploded. When his rant was finished, Revan looked calm. Guess he could throw the man a bone or two. He needed the man's trust to get off this planet.

"As you wish. I shall explain," Revan began in a tone that spoke of great experience and authority. "I am a jedi," he continued, "charged with keeping Bastilla safe. I was placed undercover so that the sith would underestimate me. I took the disguise so far as to leave my lightsaber behind. I need to speak with Bastilla immediately so that we can begin finding a way off planet, where is she?"

As Revan finished telling his _slightly_ altered back story, Carth looked properly ashamed and Trask looked more in awe than ever. Carth seemed unsure as to how he should respond to having questioned a jedi. Deciding they had no time to waste on such things, Revan repeated his inquiry for Bastilla.

This time Carth responded, "Her escape pod crashed somewhere else. We don't know where she is. You've only been unconscious for a day and we needed to get you stable before we left you alone. Sorry, I don't know much more. All I know for sure is that Taris is under sith quarantine so they obviously don't know where she is either."

"That's good," Revan said reflectively. They needed to hurry. Knowing Malak, this planet would be vapor in a few standard days if the search didn't turn up results. He never did have any patience. Or finesse, come to think of it. "We need to assess each other's strengths and weaknesses in that case. The better we know each other's respective styles, the easier it'll be to work together under these circumstances. We can't afford to make ourselves too conspicuous so either."

Both soldiers looked at him rather surprised. Carth seemed surprised that he knew how to take charge and what was required in a stealth mission. Before anyone could protest his authority, Revan decided to start. "I'm at knight level approaching the level of a jedi master. I'm well versed in all forms of lightsaber combat and force forms. Force forms allow a jedi to channel the force easier," he added seeing their confusion. "I am adept both with single blades and with two due to my knowledge of an arcane lightsaber style called jar'kai. Also, I have Echani style training in hand to hand combat to supplement the basic type that all jedi learn. I have excellent abilities at treating injuries, repairing droids or other mechanisms, persuading others, and spotting traps or mines. Also, I have an unrivaled capacity for languages. I can fluently speak nearly every language in the galaxy and I can understand the ones I don't speak. Now one of you go, fill us in on any information you think we need to know. You should know that anything you tell me will be used to help devise any plans and strategies I make, so withholding information could get you or us killed."

With that final declaration, Revan fell silent and waited. Trask awkwardly started, deciding Carth seemed too stupefied to speak. "I'm a new ensign with the fleet. I have no talent with a sword or melee weapon at all. I only have basic hand-to-hand combat training. My skill with blasters of any kind is why I was rushed through basic training. Most people can't maneuver blasters in close range situations, but I can. Plus, I'm a great sniper. I can spot basic traps and mines. My first aid is limited to field treatment, but it'll help in a pinch. I am pretty good at laying mines and explosives and I –," here Trask trailed off. Seeing that he needed prodding Revan asked him to continue. With a sigh, Trask said, "I trained in some stealth techniques as well. That's about the gist of my abilities."

Nodding thoughtfully, Revan turned towards Carth. With a start, Carth realized it was his turn. "I've got some experience from the mandalorian wars and this one. I had an Echani teach me some of their style during the war to compensate for the standard hand to hand methods taught to soldiers. I can use melee weapons if the need arises but I prefer my blasters. I never learned to use blasters well in close combat but my marksmanship is nothing to laugh at. I can spot traps and mines easily, just like Daven. I have skill in disarming and retrieving mines, too. That's pretty much everything."

Revan nodded and said, "Alright, well I think that's enough. Trask!" Said man snapped to attention in an instant. "You know stealth and how to lay mines, correct?" At Trask's nod, Revan continued, "You are going to work on gathering information and laying traps for us. You'll run a general sweep and report back to us via our comm units. If you spot any traps or mines you'll disable them. Also, because we are outnumbered here, you will be laying your own traps that we can use to thin out enemy ranks. I've got some skill creating mines so I can use that workbench to make some for you. Then we'll make the enemy move closer to us by having you snipe at them, forcing them to run through your traps. Do you understand what your role will be in our unit?"

Trask nodded. It made perfect sense. With him not being as skilled at actual combat as Carth and Daven he would interfere there. This was also an important tactical role. If he supplied incorrect or incomplete information on the number of traps and enemies then they would all die. Recognizing that Daven was waiting patiently for an answer, he responded to his impromptu commander, "Yes, sir! I understand perfectly, sir!"

With a tight smile to acknowledge the respectful title, he turned to Carth. "You and I will handle any enemies that survive or avoid Trask's traps. You will use those two blasters of yours to lay a wide area spread of fire. This will serve two purposes. First, it will keep the enemy from getting too close to you and Trask, since neither of you boast about your abilities at that range. Second, it will allow me to move closer without needing to avoid blaster fire. Once I get in close, I'll attack all of the nearby enemies and take them out quickly while you keep them pinned down. Do you understand your purpose in this unit?"

Carth was still stunned. This man's tactical abilities were proven beyond a doubt now. If they operated in this manner, then they could practically walk right into the military base and survive if they had to! Just who was this jedi? He just had an aura of authority around him. You could feel his charisma at work when you were in his presence. He could inspire you to follow. And he didn't have that arrogant attitude that all other jedi seemed so fond of. Carth smiled, he could follow this man. "Yes, sir, I understand."

If Revan was surprised at Carth's form of address, he didn't show it. "Alright, before we move out to gather information, you need to know some things. I'm gonna be talking to the sith or anyone else. My natural charisma and persuasion skills should loosen their lips easily. We are going to keep all of our weapons out of sight or sheathed. We can't draw attention to ourselves. Also, we're going to the cantina first. It'll give us a good starting basis in intel and it'll be easy to win some credits there. Also, I'm going to make some mines for Trask before we leave this room."

Listening to Revan outline his plans, both of the others nodded. They recognized this man as a leader. With him leading it should only take a few days tops to locate Bastilla and get off planet. Sitting on the beds while Revan was at the workbench focused on his task, Carth turned to his fellow soldier. "Why do you follow him so easily?" Carth asked. "This is the first time you've met him isn't it?"

"Of course it is. But, I don't see you resisting his orders either, sir," Trask said. "Weren't you convinced, just last night, that we should kill him before he wakes up? He's just a natural leader; you can't help but to listen to him. Besides, his strategies and tactics are sound."

Carth couldn't help but to contemplate this. Where had his suspicions gone? Had this jedi used some mind power to make him trusting? Deciding that he would be suspicious even while following orders, Carth spent several minutes listing in his head why he shouldn't trust Daven Thrar. After several hours of this the sun was high in the sky over Taris. They would need food soon. Just as Carth was about to voice this to Daven, the man stood from the workbench.

Revan turned towards his companions. He had felt Carth's thoughts this whole time. While it was slightly disconcerting and would probably annoy him, he knew the soldier would listen to him so he wouldn't bother with it. Speaking to Trask, he said, "Here, take these. I made four minor sonic mines and eight minor frag mines. There weren't enough spare parts around here for more. Still, it'll be enough for now. Remember to keep these out of sight. Also, take this," he said, handing Trask the mines and a belt of some kind. "I upgraded the stealth field generator that was included in my standard issue gear. It should dampen the sound you make walking and increase your abilities at stealth by a decent amount."

Trask was shocked. This was more than he expected. Even as he slipped the belt around his waist, he couldn't stop stuttering his thanks. Revan simply waved him off before handing a wristband to both him and Carth. Trask saw that Carth looked suspicious of the gift and had raised an eyebrow. Looking to Daven for an explanation, the man raised his own right arm showing an identical armband.

"This is an energy shield. Like I said, there aren't many spare parts in this room so I couldn't make many. They're good for about five uses and should protect us from some blaster fire. Be careful not to waste them. We don't have the money to replace them or build new ones yet and we still need to buy some medical supplies once we get some credits."

Once again, Trask was speechless. This man was going above and beyond anything expected of him. Well, maybe jedi had higher standards. Trask would reserve judgment on that until he met Bastilla. Carth slipped the armband on easily. His companion was really trying to keep them alive. That was a point or two in his favor but it didn't drive away the distrust. He could just be keeping them alive because he needed them right now. Still, the thought was nice, Carth decided.

With a signal, Revan motioned for them to leave. As the apartment doors closed behind them they saw a sith soldier and two warbots in the hallway. "Alright, everyone against the wall," The sith declared to the aliens gathered in the hallway. Not listening beyond that, Revan signaled to Trask. Trask understood the message and turned on his new stealth field generator. Walking forward slowly, he layed the frag mine so that a single movement from the sith would activate it. With how enclosed the hall was, the blast would take the warbots with him.

Finished with his assigned task, Trask returned to stand beside Revan and deactivated his stealth field. Revan nodded at him before facing the sith with a smile on his face. "Good job, Trask," Revan said in amusement.

Whirling to face the noise, the sith started, "What? Who are –" Which was as far as he got before the mine triggered from his movement. The blast took out the soldier and the two droids. Revan looked detachedly at the body before turning to the aliens who had been threatened.

"Are you alright?" Revan asked in the duros' native tongue.

"Yes, I am fine. Thank you so much! That sith was about to shoot me before you said something. Don't worry about the body. My friend and I can dispose of the body so no one looking for it will suspect anything." The palpable relief from the pair of duros didn't affect Revan, but he noticed Carth shift as though uneasy. Was Carth able to feel the force? Questions for another time, Revan decided as the duros pressed something into his hands. "Take it. It is only fifty credits but it is all I have. Once again, I thank you." And with that the duros ran off before Revan could even try giving the credits back.

Sighing, he said to his companions, "We need to keep moving. First find directions to the cantina. We'll ask the person inside this apartment here." Moving forward, Revan opened up the apartment right next to theirs and saw a woman inside. Right as he opened his mouth, the woman began to yell at him indignantly.

"How dare you! Who do you think you are, barging in here without permission? If you're with that fool Holdan, I'll –"

"I apologize ma'am. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I've never heard of Holdan before, my friends and I were merely interested in directions to the nearest cantina. I simply thought I could ask you, since you're apartment wasn't locked. We'll be leaving now," Revan said, smoothly interrupting the woman's rant.

"I, well, um," the woman took a deep breath to recollect her thoughts. "I'm sorry. Please come in. I'll be happy to give you directions to the cantina. My name's Dia, by the way," the woman, Dia, said. Revan just smiled and walked in while his companions just stood there a moment, speechless. Was this the kind of response his charisma inspired? Was this the reason for their loyalty? Once again Carth found himself reciting all of the reasons he couldn't trust Daven in his mind.

Thirty minutes later, the three exited Dia's apartment heading towards the cantina. Not only had they discovered the location of the cantina, but Dia had also reluctantly explained why she was hiding from Holdan. Revan had assured her that they would help her out before they left. After hearing Dia explain what went on at the various cantinas on Taris, the group had decided on how they would make money. Revan would use his combat talent to win money in the dueling ring, he would also win money playing pazaak, and they would make some money doing the legal bounties. That should give them enough credits to last through their search for Bastilla and get off planet.

Exiting the apartment complex and swiftly moving across the street, the trio passed the weapons shop they had been told about without stopping and continued on to the cantina. As soon as they stepped inside they saw various card tables spread out before them. Revan knew from Dia that the dueling ring was closed for the next hour. That meant he had to play pazaak for now. First problem: where would he get a deck? Looking he saw a man standing in a corner not playing cards. Walking up to him Revan asked if he had a deck to sell. The man jumped at the chance, explaining that he had been looking to sell his deck. After listening to the man Revan gave him the fifty credits and walked to the pazaak tables.

Forty-five minutes later, nobody in the cantina would play with Revan anymore. He had cleaned up over five hundred credits in that short time. Moving to the bar and ordering a shot of tarisian ale, he turned casually to Carth and Trask. Both had been stationed at the bar while he was winning money. They had been monitoring the crowd to see if they could find anybody who might know something. They discretely pointed out two off-duty sith soldiers, a man and a woman. Revan walked to the woman, deciding it would be easier to convince her to talk to him than the man.

"Oh, hey!' The woman started at seeing him approach. "Most people don't talk to us off duty sith. They have a chip on their shoulder from the quarantine. They just can't understand that we don't want to be here either," the woman began. "My name's Sarna. What's yours handsome?"

Perfect, Revan thought. She was attracted, that would make this way easier. Assuming a sympathetic posture and eyeing the girl in a way that would make her believe he was interested, he began to respond. While Revan was pumping the sith for information, he was unaware of the eyes on his back. Carth watched his easy manner when acting and became even more suspicious. If the man could do it for short periods of time, then why not longer? Was he just acting around him and Trask? Who was he really? Carth was so lost in his thoughts of betrayal that when Daven started to speak he jumped. When had the man come back?

"There's a party in the Northern apartment complex tonight. A bunch of off-duty sith will be there. This is the perfect way for us to get a uniform or something. Apparently, the sith know that Bastilla crashed into the lower city so that's blocked off. We need some uniforms to get down there," Revan carefully explained what he had learned.

Trask decided to ask, "How will we get the uniforms and get away? Even if the sith are passed out the uniforms will be reported missing."

Revan lowered his voice as he responded, "I have a plan. I'll tell you back at our safe house, so we can be sure no one's listening in on us. For now I need to speak with Ajurr. He's the reigning hutt slime and the one in charge or the dueling ring. I should be able to get one or two duels done before we have to go back and get ready for the party. You and Carth keep observing the comings and goings here. Make sure none of the sith start paying too much attention to any of us and warn me if they do." With that final order, Revan moved to adjacent room.

Duelists were everywhere. As were spectators. A duel was already in progress. Someone called Dead-eye Duncan was facing off with Gerlon Two-fingers. Watching the display, Revan couldn't help but snort in contempt. This was his competition? Okay, maybe he could do more than two duels before the party. Walking forward, he stopped in front of the only hutt in the room, assuming it was Ajurr. When it looked up and saw him standing there, it was quite surprised.

"Hello human," it spoke in heavily accented basic. "My name is Ajurr and I am in charge of the Taris dueling circuit. Are you interested in dueling? We could always use some fresh blood in the ring. People are tired of being forced to watch the same people night after night. I pay ten percent of the total wagers as your fee if you win and you're at no risk."

"They use vibroblades, blasters, and grenades," Revan said slowly, "and nobody gets hurt? I'm assuming there's a shield in use for that purpose. Still, that is why I walked over here. I plan to make some money by wiping the floor with the trash you call duelists."

"Haha ha," Ajurr rumbled out a laugh. "You certainly seem confident. Well, as long as you understand the agreement I don't care. You agree to the terms I stated?"

"Of course, Ajurr," Revan said. A small, menacing smile graced his lips as he spoke. "If you're interested, you can make some extra money by placing your own bets on me too. I assure you I won't lose. In fact," here Revan glanced at the duelists standing in the room before finishing with, "I doubt I'll receive a scratch."

"Haha," Ajurr rumbled. "Very well then, human. All that is left is to think of a name for you."

Here Revan saw fit to interrupt Ajurr. "I would prefer not to use my own name. I've neither the time nor patience to deal with fans and groupies, you understand." The way Revan worded it was to make Ajurr believe that his new duelist just didn't want to be followed around. He had no way of knowing that the man was trying to lay low and avoid being found by the sith.

"Of course, of course," Ajurr murmured slowly. He had no reason to doubt this statement. He had seen many of his duelists hounded by fans. "How about the Mysterious Stranger? It has a certain ring to it and the mystery will make people curious."

Revan thought only a moment before agreeing. For the next few minutes he and Ajurr discussed the particulars of what was expected of him and the terms of their agreement. After it was all decided, it was time for the first duel of the night. The fresh blood against Dead-eye Duncan in his first duel ever. Revan could only smirk, let the slaughter begin.

­­Read these first two chapters and leave me a review to let me know what you think. Should I continue or not? Let me know


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Taris – The Mysterious Stranger and a Sith Party

**Disclaimer: Yeah…still no.**

Author's Note: Finally done with highschool! I Figure I'll put this up in celebration.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please bring your attention to the center ring! You've seen him lose night after night. Haha ha! That's right! On this side, we have Dead-eye Duncan!" The crowd seemed enthusiastic enough. Everyone was excited to see how the newbie would fare against their worst duelist. Standing across from Dead-eye and watching the fool bask in what was probably the only cheering he'd ever received, Revan snorted. "And tonight Dead-eye's opponent is new blood! The Mysterious Stranger plans to join the ranks of Taris' duelists! Let's see what he's made of folks!"

With the end of the announcer's speech came the start of the countdown. Revan could feel the invisible bonds that held both him and his opponent in place loosening. Revan began to focus his mind on accessing the force. Feeling his awareness grow, he allowed a passive power to activate. Battle precognition would allow him to see his opponent's moves ahead of time and counter them appropriately. Unfortunately, with the sith watching for anything suspicious, he wouldn't be able to use any of his more obvious force abilities. Still, between his training in various forms of martial arts and weapon styles, this should be fairly easy.

He could see the ripples in the force that meant his opponent was about to move. Three blaster bolts burned across the arena, flying through where Revan had stood a second ago, and hit the wall. Revan raised an eyebrow at his opponent. With a calm assurance that nobody else would use when walking through a hail of blaster fire, Revan moved forward. Gracefully he would twirl to the side avoiding several blasts. This pattern continued until Revan stood before Dead-eye. Dead-eye himself was astounded. What the hell was this man thinking?

The crowd was equally quiet. They had watched the dueling circuit for years. They had seen some amazing things, some impossible things, and even some crazy things. But, give them a break. What kind of idiot walks through a storm of blaster fire without flinching? Dead-eye wasn't even shooting anymore. Of course, the crowd could understand that decision. What would be the point of shooting at someone who apparently wasn't afraid to get shot? Unknown to the crowd, that wasn't why Dead-eye wasn't shooting.

Revan could feel his opponent's fear. Wary of being detected but deciding that it was probably worth it, Revan reached out to his opponent's mind and amplified his fear. Suddenly, the fool was shaking in place. Revan just continued to stare down his opponent while slowly escalating his fear. With a final push against Dead-eye's mind, the man fell into unconsciousness. Revan didn't have a scratch on him and he hadn't even raised his weapon during the entire fight. Smirking, Revan walked to the center and raised his hand to wait for the announcement of his victory.

After almost twenty seconds of complete silence the announcer finally began to speak. "Well, uhm, it appears the Mysterious Stranger is the winner," all of the excitement from early was gone. Apparently, the announcer was shocked at how Revan had won. The announcer bounced back, of course, with his usual vivacity. "But we all know Dead-eye has never won a duel! Haha! Sorry, Mysterious Stranger but you'll need to do better than that to impress us!"

The crowd was spurned on by the announcer's words and stood to cheer. They had never seen somebody win a duel without getting hit or attacking. That didn't mean that it wasn't an amazing fight! The applause washed over Revan and he merely stood in the center until the doors opened. While the crowd cheered, he used his senses to determine if a dark jedi had caught him doing that. Finding nothing, Revan relaxed. Apparently, they had assumed it was a natural occurrence or one of their own having some fun with a local, perfect.

Finally, Revan was allowed back into the cantina to speak to Ajurr. As he was collecting his cut of the winnings he saw Carth in the corner of his eye. Carth seemed to be staring at him suspiciously. With good reason, considering that most jedi would have trouble doing that without a lightsaber. Deciding he might as well see what had his companion so riled up now, he opened up his consciousness and cruised straight into Carth's ridiculously open mind. Revan idly noted to himself that if he ever came to trust Carth he should teach him some tricks to stop people from doing this.

What Revan saw in his companion's mind made him want to cringe. All of Carth's thoughts centered on how easily Daven had walked through a storm of blaster fire, the man was so suspicious. The entire reason he and Trask were at the bar doing look out duty was so that they wouldn't watch him duel! If nothing else, Revan knew that he wouldn't need to hold back as much now. Still, having someone watching him all the time was going to make things difficult. Briefly, Revan considered revealing himself to his companions before dismissing it. Daven Thrar was still a useful disguise and Carth's hatred of all sith would have driven him to shoot before the situation could be entirely explained.

Shaking his head, Revan decided to leave the situation alone for now. He would speak to Carth in private once Trask was asleep or something. Revan merely spoke to Ajurr and set up another duel. Ajurr was slightly surprised but agreed nevertheless. Revan stalked back outside to the duel arena to face his next opponent. With Carth's eyes constantly on his back, he would have to be more careful. His current opponent used a blaster too, though. Revan could feel a slight headache coming on as he realized he couldn't win in the same manner or Carth would be even more suspicious. Before Revan could think of a new plan, the announcer began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new duel already! The Mysterious Stranger is already seeking higher challenges. Can this unknown walk through a hail of blaster bolts again? We'll have to see! And his opponent is Gerlon Two-fingers! Gerlon has better aim, faster draw speed, and faster firing speed than Duncan. This should prove to be a far greater challenge to our unknown competitor. Let's get started!"

Once again, Revan felt the bonds holding him in place fall slack as it was time to begin the fight. Wrapped in the force, he could already see his opponent's first move. A smile spread across his face and he began laughing as he took exactly three steps backwards. A moment later a frag grenade exploded where he had just been standing. At his new position, he was safe from the explosion but the smoke still hid him from view. His opponent was obviously hoping to blind him and then fire directly into the cloud. Without being able to see, he would have no way to avoid the shots like he had in the first duel.

Unfortunately for Gerlon, he was facing Revan. Few were the secrets of the force that Revan didn't know. Even fewer would remain secrets from him for long. As a child, Revan's appetite for knowledge had been insatiable. He had studied at the foot of nearly every master in the order before he had left to fight in the mandalorian wars. Despite having only those memories at the moment, he still held more theoretical and practical knowledge of the force than any other single jedi, master or not. He was sure that once he began to reabsorb memories of the mandalorian wars his abilities and knowledge would grow. For him, this would be beyond simple.

Wrapping the force around himself, Revan became completely invisible. Normally only Jedi Watchmen or Sith Assassins bothered to learn this obscure power. Using the force to camouflage his one's presence was typical ignored. Stealth field generators and other items could be used to the same effect so most jedi and sith didn't bother to learn how to do this. Revan didn't like the idea of relying on anything or not knowing something, however. So it was a given that he would learn how to do this. Before his opponent could begin to fire, Revan made his way out of the smoke and began to circle around behind his opponent.

To everyone else it would just look like he had used a stealth field generator and snuck around his opponent. Finally, Revan stood just to the left of his opponent. Turning, Revan watched in amusement as his opponent fired into the lingering smoke from the grenade. All of the spectators were cheering wildly at the thought of the new duelist being shown his place. After another ten seconds of fire, Gerlon put his blaster down with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. Revan could practically see the smirks on all of the other duelist's faces; he couldn't wait to show them all up.

When the smoke cleared and everyone saw that nobody was standing there anymore, Revan watched in amusement as the smirk slid off Gerlon's face. He could feel the satisfaction of the crowd disappear as well. Deactivating his stealth field, Revan raised his prototype vibroblades and struck his opponent with a lethal blow. At least, the blow would've been lethal without the shields in the arena. Instead his opponent got off with just getting knocked unconscious. Performing the ritual of standing and accepting his cheers, Revan began planning for his next match.

His next opponent, a woman named Ice, was supposedly a melee fighter. That should be easier. He wouldn't have to worry about Carth's reaction; the man already knew that he was amazing at melee combat. Carth already thought he had jedi training so his skills with a blade wouldn't be questioned. Ignoring the people staring in awe, he made his way through the crowd and towards Ajurr to set up one last match. After this next match, he would need to find Trask and Carth. The three of them need to discuss his plans for the sith party. After collecting the small sum of credit chips Ajurr had for them, he requested one final match.

"Are you trying to climb to the top in one day, human?" Ajurr questioned, "That'll destroy my new betting pool too soon. You should take your time."

"It will be fine Ajurr," Revan soothed, voice laced with the force to subtly add strength to his words. Too many sith and jedi simply tried to force others to accept their suggestions. Revan had discovered that by lacing the force into his voice it lessened resistance to what he was saying. Combined with his natural charisma, he had found this skill to work more often than even the strongest attempts to dominate a person's mind. Of course, Revan had often adapted techniques to work in a different manner. Sometimes, he even created his own techniques based off of theoretical knowledge of other techniques.

"Hmmm…" Ajurr rumbled, "you're right. It'll be fine I suppose. This is the last duel tonight though! The last two after Ice are hardcore competitors. You may be able to fight through the rabble in a single day, but Marl and Twitch are in a different league."

"Of course, Ajurr," Revan said, doubting anyone here would be any threat. "I have other things to do later, anyway. I suppose Marl and Twitch can wait until tomorrow."

"Heh heh, I like you stranger. You have a backbone. All right, I'll set up this one last duel for you," Ajurr said. The giant slug seemed rather happy with its latest competitor.

Without another word, Revan walked back out into the arena. Not even a minute later, Ice walked out into the arena carrying a vibroblade. She didn't have a blaster on her anywhere, stupid girl. Revan didn't care who the girl was or how skilled she was. He had been a master of both a blade and the force before he exited his teen years. Almost nobody could match him anywhere. This wasn't even going to be fun, he thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen," The announcer began. Revan, however, paid no further attention to the idiot. Instead he chose to observe his opponent. The girl had a smirk on her face. Hmmm, so she was confident. Why? Just like earlier with Carth, Revan cruised into her surface thoughts to see what she was thinking. As the bonds that held them in place until the start fell loose and Ice began to charge towards him, Revan couldn't keep from laughing.

The woman's entire mind resonated with her belief that Revan was helpless against a melee attack. She had seen his performance against his other opponents. One had collapsed from fear and the other had been blindsided. Apparently, this was because he only carried the weapons to intimidate his opponents and couldn't actually use them. Even as he was stumbling around from his laughter at this girl's presumptuous thoughts, he parried her first lunge. Revan decided he would show her what a real swordsmaster could do.

The laughter in his eyes not dimming one bit, Revan casually raised his blade in a makashi salute before bringing the blade to rest at his side. Ice froze at seeing the sword salute and stance. Her skill with a blade was mostly self-taught but even she could see the casual skill the man before her had. Hoping it was a front, she lunged again. A casual parry thrust her blade towards the ground and she stumbled to regain her balance. Regaining her footing and turning around, she saw red. There was her opponent casually examining his sword. She was off guard and defenseless and he just stood there!

Gritting her teeth, Ice ground out, "What do you think you're doing? You could've finished this right then and there."

Revan glanced up from his inspection before resuming his stance. "Well," he replied easily, "from the smirk you had at the start of the match it was obvious you expected me to have no skill. You believed that both of my previous victories were a combination of luck and trickery. I would be remiss to defeat you when you weren't going all out, my dear."

The condescending smirk he sent her way irked her, but she respected his honor. Most others wouldn't have been nearly as forgiving. Of course, those that were this forgiving usually had the raw skill and talent to back it up. That wasn't a comforting thought. Still, if she was going to lose, she would give her all first. "Don't worry, from now on there won't be any holding back."

A nod was her only response, he still stood waiting. The next five minutes were either one of two things. The greatest lesson in swordsmanship Ice had ever received or a complete embarrassment of a duel. Every strike she attempted was parried. Every lunge countered. Every step she made, he responded. He threw off her balance with ease. There was a larger embarrassment than that, though. He didn't just completely outclass her. He gave tips to her to correct her flaws. The ease he moved with made it clear that this whole match was a joke to him.

In the end, Ice forfeited the match. She recognized his skill and knew that this match could've ended a thousand different times had her opponent been so inclined. While this match wasn't as dramatic as his first or as quick as his second, it still established him as a dangerous opponent to his opposition. That was exactly what he wanted. The first two matches established his reputation of being mysterious and powerful. This final match cemented his reputation as someone who the tarisian populace would have to respect.

After collecting his winnings from Ajurr, Revan left the duelists' area. He ignored the looks from Marl and Twitch, they would meet tomorrow. Seeing Carth and Trask sitting together, he walked over and began to whisper. "We need to head back to discuss our strategy for the party. Did you two find anything?"

"Carth had an altercation with some snobbish girl," Trask said. "I think it was Davik's daughter, but I was too far away at the time to be sure."

"It was," Carth confirmed. Seeing Revan's look, he hastened to explain himself, "Look, I was watching your matches so I could get a better idea of what you could do. She interrupted me so I was rude. We probably need to look out for some form of retaliation from her. I did learn something interesting about you, though." This last statement was made in an accusatory tone.

"Pray, tell me what," Revan sighed.

"Why didn't you mention you could walk through a hail of blaster fire or turn yourself invisible? Are you hiding things from us? Those skills would be useful if we got in a tight spot."

Cutting Carth off before he continued, Revan said, "Allow me to explain, then. I cannot walk through a hail of blaster fire I used a minor form of battle meditation to affect my opponents aim –"

"Impossible," Carth interrupted. "Battle meditation is a rare skill! Most jedi can't do it! That's why Bastilla is so important to the war effort," Carth interrupted. Trask, though he said nothing, obviously wanted answers as well.

"Incorrect assumptions made by the Republic," Revan said dismissively. "Any reasonably powerful jedi can perform Battle Meditation. All jedi can touch a person's mind. All jedi can manipulate the thoughts of weak minded people and affect a strong person at least a little bit. Battle Meditation is simply a method of using this ability to touch many minds at once. Enemies are weakened while allies are fortified. Bastilla is rather young and possesses talent in this particular area of her studies, but I assure there isn't a jedi master who can't use this skill."

"You mean," Carth started slowly, but you could tell he was angry as he continued, "dozens of jedi can use this skill and they choose not to? This war could be over by now if –"

"You misunderstand the usefulness of this rather limited skill," Revan interrupted briskly. "Those with strong minds can resist this technique as simply as they resist jedi attempts to manipulate their minds. Without jedi to lead assaults and implant fear into the minds of the opponent, without first weakening the opponents' minds, the technique as worthless as attempting to use the force to order a large group of enemies to retreat."

Carth and Trask looked at Revan in shock. They just couldn't grasp that something they thought was so important was worthless. "So," Trask finally started, "why are we risking our lives to find her? If her skill is so easily replicated then she is just one jedi. Her talent in this area is impressive for her age but we could just get another, right?"

"First I'll finish answering Carth's accusations." Revan stated with a smirk. "I turned myself invisible with an arcane force technique called force camouflage. No, I'm not hiding anything from you that would be useful for you to know now," Revan internally smirked as neither caught that he didn't deny that he was hiding things from them. "These skills can only be used in large concentrations of people or the sith will detect my use of the force. So, I can't risk doing those things while we're searching unless there are extenuating circumstances. Even then, it will probably give us away."

"That makes sense," Carth admitted reluctantly. "Look, I'm sorry. I've been –"

"It's fine, Carth. I understand. Anyway, to answer you Trask," Revan paused to gather his thoughts before answering. "Malak doesn't know much about Battle Meditation. Neither does his sith, considering the effort put forth to capture Bastilla. Therefore, it would be prudent to keep them believing that she is the only one who can utilize this skill right now. So, we have to find her to keep up the illusion. Right now, we have no idea where his ships come from or how he's getting so many. When we have his supplies cut off, we can have dozens of jedi use the technique to cripple him and his armies." With a shrug, Revan finished with, "It's a tactical advantage that the jedi don't want to reveal just yet."

Both accepted his words before Trask said, "Alright, let's head back to the hideout. We need to discuss your plan before the party." Revan just nodded and they began to move outside. Walking through the pazaak den, Revan caught sight of a mandalorian in full armor standing at the exit.

"I saw –"

The mandalorian began before being cut off. "I've neither the time nor the inclination to speak with a disgraced mandalorian about combat. Should you wish to die, find me elsewhere, trash." Without looking to see the response of those nearby, Revan left through the door Trask and Carth had just walked through.

_The losses at Dxun had just been calculated. A soldier stood, having just reported the loses to Revan. Revan stood, arms crossed, before he asked, "What did the reports we procured from the mandalorian camps say?"_

_"Nothing, sir. They don't keep track of loses because they see them as glorious deaths. The only mention I can find of a mandalorian at all is Bendak Starkiller."_

_"What's so special about him?" Revan's voice betrayed his curiosity through the mask he wore._

_"He's a deserter, sir. Disgraced and stripped of mandalorian rights forever. He stayed on a planet called Taris. Apparently, the mandalorians left the place because it was weak and held no value to them. Bendak stayed behind to earn fame and recognition in the duelist circle."_

_"I see."_

Shaking his recollection of the mandalorian he had just insulted from his head, Revan continued moving towards the group's hideout. Hopefully, he'd have time to assimilate more memories before they went to the party. They reached their apartment relatively quickly. A minor annoyance in the form of two thugs had tried to stop them. It had been simple for Carth to dispatch them while Revan caught the girl. Apparently it was the brat Carth had insulted. Revan let her go after making her promise not to attack them again.

"Alright," Revan began once the doors were completely sealed. "The apartment building will be laid out in the same manner as this one, a circular ring with rooms on the side of the hall. Once we get in, Trask will camouflage himself and take a counter-clockwise path around the building. Anyone who might hear us will be knocked unconscious. Carth will take a position on one side of the door and Trask on the other. I'll enter the room and mingle with the guests. They'll be consuming large amounts of tarisian ale and other drinks, but we're going to help them get to sleep before that. That weapons shop near the cantina probably has some poison grenades. I'll alter them to only knock people out. When I give the signal, you two will cover the room in poison smoke. After that, we take what we need and disappear. Any questions?"

"Daven," Trask started, "how will you not get knocked unconscious?" Carth seemed to be curious on this point as well.

Revan rubbed his forehead; did anyone know jedi techniques at all? Even jedi seemed ignorant in what they were capable of. Sith too, if Malak's obsession with Bastilla was anything to go by. "I will be using another obscure jedi technique that makes me immune to poisons absorbed through the skin or inhaled. It'll be fine. Anything else?"

When nobody responded, Revan nodded to Carth then outside. Carth raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"We're going to get the poison grenades," Revan said simply. He knew Carth would pick up the hint that this was their chance to talk alone. They needed to resolve their trust issues somewhat. Things were, after all, about to get a lot more dangerous.

"Oh, right," Carth said. "Well, let's get going."

Turning to Trask, Revan said, "Rest up and get ready for tonight. You're pretty much free until the party at twenty-one hundred."

The last thing Revan and Carth heard as the apartment doors closed behind them was Trask's simple, "Yes, sir. I wonder which one of them will be coming back alive…"

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Taris – Conversations, Trust, and Memories of War

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep writing this? Look, if I owned anything I would have some money. **

Author's Note: I'm trying to get through Taris. Dantooine is where everything will change drastically. You'll see what I mean when we get there.

Anyway… **on we go!**

"You don't trust me," it wasn't a question. Revan was simply stating a fact and Carth understood this. Seeing that Carth wouldn't deny his statement, Revan continued, "I'd ask why, but I have a fairly good idea. I've heard what happened to Telos and I know that's where you're from," Carth looked alarmed at this line of thinking so Revan knew he was close. Still, there was something missing. What was he missing?

"Yeah, I lost my wife and my son when Telos was bombed. But, that doesn't mean I want to talk about it!" Carth's countenance and mind screamed betrayal to Revan. Who had betrayed the man? Shaking his head, Revan decided he would think about this later, he had other things to do.

First, Revan thought, he needed to establish trust between him and Carth. "Alright," he said simply. "We won't talk about it. I'm just trying to tell you that it shouldn't affect our partnership. Will it help if I make a force oath with you?"

"A force oath?" Carth mumbled, confused. "What's a force oath?"

_Revan stood inside the archives, studying with Master Dorak. "Master, why is it that these force bond techniques are not taught to jedi?" _

_Dorak smiled at Revan's quest for knowledge. The young man, now a knight, spent many weeks here studying under him. Few could compare to the man's theoretical knowledge of the force. There wasn't a subject known to the jedi, save for the dangerous art of sith alchemy, that Revan hadn't studied intensively. Revan saw use for obscure techniques that the jedi cast out centuries ago. Modifying what many thought to be useless techniques or using theories to create new techniques that were superior to many existing ones was Revan's passion. And he was good at it._

_Once Revan completed his study of force bonds he would have more understanding of the force than most masters. Dorak looked forward to the day that Revan became a master and was allowed knowledge of sith alchemy. He had no doubt that Revan would find some way for the jedi to use these arts long thought as a symbol of the darkside. Dorak had looked through the knowledge himself and couldn't deny the usefulness of many of the things and what could be done with it. _

_"Well, Revan," Dorak began indulgently, happy to explain something to what must be the brightest pupil in the order. "Force bonds are used in tying one's life, their connection to the force, or something else they agree upon to another. Most jedi see no practical use for them. Like many techniques you have happened upon in the dusty tomes and datapads that line our archives here, the techniques are considered worthless. What do you think of them, Knight Revan?"_

_Sensing that Dorak wanted him to answer seriously, Revan began, "I see many applications, master. Force oaths could be used to gain the trust of those outside the order. They could even be used to insure that someone was being honest. And the regular bonds have so many applications! Healing for one." _

_"Healing," Dorak questioned, "how so?"_

_"Master, the bond ties two beings lives together!" Revan seemed excited about this aspect of force bonds. "If someone is in critical condition they could be saved. All they would need to do is create a force bond with another person and they would survive as long as their bonded does. This could keep them alive until they were properly treated for their injuries. Think of it, master! Someone less than an inch from death's door, saved by something so simple! How could anyone see such a technique as useless?"_

_Dorak, himself, said nothing. As usual, Revan's outside the box ideas surprised and astonished him. How could nobody else have thought of this? Dorak sat speechless as Revan resumed his intensive study of what he now considered very useful, very obscure techniques._

"Well," Revan began, uncomfortable with the knowledge of what else force bonds could do. "They are a type of oath only a force sensitive can make. By focusing the force into my words and then my hand, I bind myself to what I say. You shake my hand and you become the one that the oath is tied to. Should I break my oath, you would feel the bond I created with you break." While he explained the oath and its intricacies to Carth, Revan searched within himself to see if what he feared were true.

After finding what he was looking for, Revan felt a wave of irritation. That would need to be dissolved as soon as possible. At the very core of his life force was a force bond. Tying him to Bastilla, most likely. It made sense to Revan, as she was the only other survivor from his ship. He must've tied himself to her since she had the weakest mental defenses of all the jedi in the strike force. Still, he would have to dissolve the bond before she could realize it was there and set conditions for it. His need to find Bastilla had just increased a great deal.

"All right," Carth said, getting the gist of what he had to do. "Make your oath and we can buy those grenades."

"I hereby pledge that all my actions," Revan began, omitting his name because of two reasons. One, it wasn't necessary. Two, he wasn't sure the force would accept his fake name and he wasn't ready for Carth to learn that little secret just yet. "Past, present, and future," he continued, "have always and will always be for the overall good of the Republic, by the Force let it be." The force had filled his voice as he spoke and he reached towards Carth with a hand saturated in force energy. Carth looked at him only a moment before reaching forward and firmly gripping his hand.

Instantly, Revan felt the new bond solidify. From Carth's expression, he had felt it to. Carth gave him a small smile before saying, "Alright. I suppose I can trust you, for now. If I feel this bond break, though, I'll kill you myself." Revan kept from commenting on that but wondered if Carth realized he had just set the terms of the oath. If it broke, Carth would have to kill him now. He could have easily had Revan stripped of the force or have him just drop dead if the oath was broken. His loss, Revan decided. It was nice to finally have the man's trust and support. He would need it.

On the other hand, the oath brought up questions Revan wanted answers to. From the way he had worded the oath, it shouldn't have held at all. His memories of being the Dark Lord were still there even if he hadn't assimilated them yet. How could that have been in the best interests of the Republic? It appeared that he didn't need to be afraid of absorbing the rest of his memories. Whatever he had done, he had done for the Republic. The question he wanted an answer to was: how could attacking the Republic possibly aid or benefit it?

"Okay, Carth. Let's get those grenades and get back. We need to rest up for the sith party." With that they hurried on to the weapons shop. Once there they made their purchases and left. Returning to their hideaway quickly, Revan set to work altering the grenades while Trask took watch and Carth rested. After an hour all of the grenades were fixed. Handing them to Trask, Revan sat at the foot of their spare cot and began to meditate. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He was determined to have assimilated at least a good portion of his memories of the mandalorian war before the party.

_"Sir," the officer on his ship spoke up. "We have cut off the mandalorian's supply and escape routes as you requested. They have no way of escaping the system. Our group on Onderon has set up anti-air turrets. The scouts the mandalorians send there are shot down before they can set up base. If I may, sir, what is the purpose of all this?"_

_"It's simple," Revan said, his voice distorted by his mask. "They have nowhere to go but Dxun. The moon's jungles will be the perfect place to exploit the maneuverability advantage that jedi hold over mandalorians. With our blockade, they will have to stop the ship to ship fighting soon and entrench themselves at Dxun."_

_Done with enlightening the man, Revan turned back to watch the battle. Idly, he wondered how long it would take them to accept that they had to retreat. Ship to ship battles put the mandalorians at a great advantage, as much as Revan hated to admit it. The Republic had many more men than the mandalorians, but their ships were not well armed or shielded. In space, loses typically totaled close to ten Republic soldiers for every mandalorian body. Those were numbers that Revan wasn't willing to keep giving. _

_That was why Revan was the Republic's leading tactician. No matter the situation, he could always find a way to turn the tide of the fight. He forced the mandalorians to fight on the ground. While this didn't help the regular soldiers much, the jedi could turn the tide of ground battles easily. The various jedi that had followed Revan and Malak to war maneuvered and fought circles around mandalorians on the ground. Revan spent time teaching all of the jedi to use their speed to their advantage against the brute force of the mandalorians. Very few jedi died once fighting hit the ground. _

_"The command ship and several other ships have begun to break away from formation. The other ships are attempting to make an exit for them," Revan informed the soldier at his side. "Inform the captain to have the ships in that sector lay down mines and then create an opening."_

_"Sir," the soldier replied before immediately going to comply with Revan's wishes. It didn't take long for the captain to approach him about his plan._

_"Commander Revan, sir, I fail to see the purpose of what you propose. That group of ships could easily maneuver through a mine field and escape." _

_"It's two fold," Revan said briskly. "Those ships will launch an assault on us to try and break through our formation if we don't make an opening for them. So, instead of having them break our ranks and scatter us, we will leave a trapped opening for them. They will see it as a challenge and accept like the prideful people their mandalorian honor demands them to be. As they come through, our ships to either side will open fire on them. They can escape a minefield, but can they do it while under siege from both sides?"_

_"I see," the ship captain said. "And what is the second goal this will accomplish?"_

_"It will show them that they can't escape. We will eliminate a large group of their ships and leave our own ranks mostly untouched. With their commander taken care of they will fall back to regroup until another leader or Mandalore himself comes to give them further instructions."_

_"You think they'll wait at Dxun, then." The captain murmured. "Alright, I'll give the order. I hope you know what you're doing, sir." _

_With that the man walked away. Less than a minute later he saw his plan begin to take shape. Ships fled from one section of their blockade, leaving a narrow tunnel to escape from for the mandalorians. However, his keen eyes could see the pinpricks that flickered in the darkness of space. The mines were in place. Almost as soon as the opening was made, the mandalorian ships began to head straight for it. The commander's vessel led the pack. However, even as they entered the field and began making their way through it, Revan did not give the order to open fire. _

_"Sir," one officer said, "the ships will escape if we don't begin firing. What are you waiting for sir?"_

_"Just wait," Revan said, his sole command echoing through the bridge. The various personnel were incredulous at the order but obeyed it nonetheless. Revan however was watching and waiting. He knew that if they opened fire too soon the plan would be ruined. The mandalorians would be able to assault his ships. However, once the mandalorian ships were deep enough in the minefield, they wouldn't be able to fire back without risking setting off the mines near them. That was the true genius of his plan. The mandalorians would be defenseless and trapped. It was perfect. Deciding they were far enough in, Revan finally gave the order, "Open fire."_

_"Sir!" Came the affirmative response. Instantly, the stretch of space transformed into a lightshow. Lasers and proton torpedoes from various Republic ships tore across the sky in a crisscross pattern that lit up everything in a brilliant display of light. Two mandalorian cruisers went down in a brilliant display of fire and gas. One of the mandalorian warships attempted to return fire and set off a nearby mine. The wave of explosive shells detonated, destroying not only that ship, but three other nearby cruisers. Behind his mask, Revan just smirked. If the mandalorian's sudden, frantic attempts to escape the minefield weren't proof that they finally realized just how badly they'd just been fooled then nothing was. Still, it was too little, too late as Revan watched the mandalorian command ship ignite and explode in a shower of metal fragments. _

"Alright, Trask," Carth's voice spoke, interrupting Revan's meditations. "You get some rest and I'll take over on watch.

"Ok," Trask's voice replied, tiredly. "Hey Carth. I wanted to ask you something –"

Immediately, Revan tuned out the conversation and began to assimilate more of the memories. While his mind thought like a tactician's, nothing could substitute for experience and he needed these memories to get that experience back.

_It had been a month since the mandalorians had been forced to entrench on Dxun. The small moon had proved to be a bloodbath for the Republic soldiers sent down there. The mandalorians had become accustomed to the forest quicker than Revan had anticipated. Many lives had been lost while he waited for enough jedi to gather over the moon. Unfortunately, most of the jedi had been finishing up another campaign just three systems over. It had taken weeks to get them here. _

_Revan sighed as he moved towards one of the ships viewscreens. While the fleet looked relatively untouched, Revan knew that the ground troops were just avoiding getting slaughtered on the surface of the moon. Staring at the transport ships that would take the jedi down, Revan tightened his hold on the railing. "Tell them they are clear to enter the moon's atmosphere." _

"_Sir!" The soldier nearby replied instantly. Revan hoped his plan would work. Dropping the jedi onto the planet at sites that his few remaining soldiers should be close to was risky. But, with the mandalorians controlling the moon, it was the only way to be sure they wouldn't get shot down. They couldn't afford to try to land the larger transports, so small, one-man pods would be released. Hopefully, they would be too small for the anti-aircraft weapons to target._

Nothing could be heard but the noise of Carth's boots clacking on the floor. Revan just sat, entrenched within the multitudes of memories he was getting back. The reports from Dxun and his meeting with the young female jedi who had led most of the attack. Countless other battles, strategies, and miscellaneous memories. Still, he was quickly approaching Malachor V and there was no clue to what made him fall. Had it been that final battle? The jedi council insisted Revan had fallen to the dark side long before that. The memory of her, before that battle, drove such thoughts from his mind.

_He was sitting in a chair, relaxing. His usual robes, armor, and mask were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't stand to wear such things around her. It just seemed so impersonal, so wrong. Still, as he sat on the couch reviewing reports from the outer rim, he wished that he could have a normal relationship with her. A relationship without the pressures of war. A relationship that would've never occurred had they both remained jedi. _

_Turning, he watched her exit the fresher. Her golden hair was held back in an intricate braid, though a few loose strands framed her beautiful face. Clear blue eyes gazed at him mischievously for a moment as she caught his stare. Brin was playful and upbeat. She tried to keep his spirits up. To soothe him when the pressures of the war became too much. "See something you like, Commander," she asked teasingly. Revan almost couldn't control his desire to jump up and kiss her. _

_Still, now was not the time or the place. "It looks as if," he began without preamble, "we'll have to use __**that**__ after all, Brin." He watched her expression drop. Her playful mask gone she just seemed completely blank. The war had done that to them, hurt them to the point where they just stopped feeling. Almost._

"_I'll tell Bao-Dur to get started. He can have the Mass Shadow Generator built in a month. Where should I tell him to build it?" She was all business now, knowing they needed to focus for now. Revan knew she'd get him to make it up to her later anyway._

"_Malachor V."_

With that other memories passed. Nothing that truly stood out. Small skirmishes to keep the mandalorians occupied while the Instrument of their destruction was built. Revan oversaw the construction from space. The plan he had concocted was foolish on many levels, but knowing what he did of the mandalorians, it couldn't fail. Finally, after a month of construction, the device was ready. It was time.

"_Alright," Revan stood in a briefing room speaking with his two best jedi, Malak and Brin. "You two will each command a third of the fleet while I hold command over the final part. My group will surround Malachor V and I will personally wait on the surface of the planet. Yes I know," Revan cut off Brin, who had been about to interrupt. "The darkside is strong there and may even kill me the moment I step foot on the planet. However, someone has to activate the Mass Shadow Generator and I'll be damned if I let someone else commit suicide."_

"_Why can't it be activated remotely, Revan?" Brin cried out, nearly in tears. Malak looked uncomfortable with the thought of Revan dying as well, but remained quiet for now. _

"_Because of the plan, Brin. The fleet is arrayed in three rings. Each ring is a third of the overall fleet. My ring will circle Malachor and keep all but the vessel of Mandalore from landing on the planet. The second ring, led by Malak, will then receive the signal and surround the mandalorian fleet. The pincer movement will be even more effective because of the mines that Malak's ships will lay. After that your group will jump in and make the final layer. Between the mines, yours, and Malak's ships the mandalorians shouldn't be able to escape the range of the blast. This battle will be bloody, but it will also be the end!"_

"_Revan," Malak spoke up, "I still agree with Brin. I think you should let someone else wait on the planet. You don't even know if Mandalore will accept your direct challenge and come with his whole fleet."_

"_But I do Malak. It's everything he wanted when he began this war." Seeing the confusion on both of his friends faces, Revan elaborated, "A glorious, to him, battle. He will bring every ship he has into a trap knowing it's a trap, because whether he wins or loses his people will remember and be remembered for this forever. He will come alone to the surface of Malachor because he will know I wait there for him to fight in one on one combat. The two leaders battle it out while above, every resource of both sights fight. A final, very large conflict to end the entire war. He will come because this is what he wants and he will be happy, even if he loses."_

"_Fine," Brin spoke up. "I know you won't change your plans after they're set so whatever. Just rush off to your death, fool!" By the end of her yell she had tears running down her face. Stepping forward, she slapped him hard across the face, right before she grabbed him and pulled him into a searing kiss. Pulling away, she was breathing heavily. After calming down she finally said, "I'm going to brief my captains and get my part of the fleet ready. Good bye Revan, Malak." She paused at the door before adding, "I love you, Revan." Then, she was gone._

"_Hehe," Malak chuckled. "She's got spirit. Still, I think she's got the right idea." With that, Malak pulled his arm back and slugged Revan hard in the face. _

"_What, I don't get a kiss now," Revan said sarcastically. "I'm hurt Malak."_

"_Tch," Malak scoffed. "I've been you're friend long enough to know I can't change your mind so instead I'm gonna say this, Revan. I know you're one of the most powerful, gifted force users in history. So, you use that knowledge and power to survive or I'll hunt your essence down within the force itself and kill you again, got it?"_

_Revan couldn't help it, he laughed. The pressure of the war these many years, coupled with his approaching death finally made itself known. Still, Revan was Revan. And hysterics were for lesser men. Men who didn't have armies at their call. Men who didn't have the courage to order a group of soldiers to charge to their deaths because there weren't any other options. Men who hadn't stained their hands with the blood of mandalorians and every Republic soldier they had failed to save. Men who didn't look at the ever growing number of dead or wounded Republic soldiers and blame themselves for it. Men who didn't, wouldn't make a difference for one reason or another. Men who would break under the pressures of war against the vast and powerful mandalorians. _

_Fortunately for the Republic, Revan wasn't such a man._

**I know I didn't finish the Mandalorian Wars. Don't worry, the next chapter is all about the war's end and the aftermath. Then I'll be moving back into the main part of the story until Revan gets another chance to peruse memory lane. And for those who are wondering, no I am not, and will not, show every memory he has. Only the ones that are majorly important or hold some sway on the story are going to be shown. Anything else would just be a tangent that doesn't need to be discussed too much. **

**Thanks for reading!**

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	5. Chapter 5 pt1

Chapter Five Part One: Taris – Malachor

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the Star Wars series or any games, novels, etc. I do however own copies of most of these things…**

Author's Note: Before anybody complains about how long this took I told you I would update slowly. Anyway, this whole chapter is a flashback. So it won't be in all italics like flashbacks normally are. This chapter italics will be a dream sequence. Next chapter we'll finish up with the Mandalorian Wars and the memories for now. Then we'll be back on the main storyline.

ON WITH THE STORY!!

Revan stood staring at the surface of the planet the Mandalorians feared. It had taken months of careful manipulation, but the Republic fleet was arrayed around Malachor V at last. The Mandalorians had "captured" a man who knew of a gathering of the fleet here. They would undoubtedly take the bait. The viewport of the landing craft he was on showed the dark rocky planet. Its atmosphere thick with electrical storms.

Revan had decided that he would be the only one on Malachor other than Bao-Dur. The command of the three sections the fleet had been divided had been delegated to Malak and Brin. This had been his idea and he would give the signal to start the Mass Shadow Generator. Revan felt an uneasiness in the force as his transport got closer to the surface. He could feel… no taste the darkness that surrounded this planet. Calming himself, he gently guided his craft to the planet's surface. With precision and grace the small ship landed amongst the rocky outcropping near the only building they had found on the planet.

A building that poured off darkness in waves. The Trayus academy. It was left by the sith before they disappeared. It made for an imposing sight. Revan quickly made sure that everything was shut down properly before lowering the ramp. Bao-Dur would have seen him land and would be coming to show him the device soon. Wrapping his cloak around himself to ward off the strange chill that permeated the air, Revan began his descent. The boarding ramp for his small shuttle was short. Probably only three or four steps total. Therefore, it is easy to understand Revan's confusing as with each step he found himself struggling more and more to move further. The air grew thicker and his sight seemed to distort. It felt as though he had been poisoned.

With a jolt, Revan understood what was happening to him. The darkside of the force was so strong on this planet that it was literally attacking his presence here. Drawing on his own firm will, Revan pushed this unease aside. With firmed resolve he forced himself to take the next step. In a single second Revan made the final step and placed his feet firmly on the rocky ground of Malachor. In a single instant the waves of darkside energy overwhelmed him with a new and vicious strength. In a single moment Revan toppled forward, blackness stretching across his eyes as he lost consciousness. And in this one single point in time the fate of the galaxy was changed forever. Any who set foot on Malachor's surface and can feel the force have only two options before them. They can succumb to the dark whispers of the planet or they can perish forever. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this wasn't just anybody. This was Revan, and he would never bow or submit.

_Where am I? What is this place? Revan had many questions at the moment. All that he could see, from any direction, was darkness. Shadows flickering to and fro carelessly were all he could see. They seemed to be waiting for something. Revan, however, had no patience at this moment. He needed to prepare. The Mandalorians were coming, this was the end! He had to be ready! "What's going on!"_

_His shout carried and echoed. There truly seemed to be nothing but this strange blackness here. Suddenly, several of the shadows seemed to take form and approach him. He couldn't yet see them clearly. "__**What's all this noise? Don't worry about the Mandalorians. By the time they get here you'll be stronger than ever, Partner.**__"_

_Revan really didn't like the way this smooth voice talked. There was a strange humor in the tone that he didn't like. "What do you mean? How will I get stronger?" _

_The figure was closer now. He could almost make out its features as it answered his question. "__**Why, you're about to be reborn.**__" With that rather odd statement the shadow stepped forward into Revan's view. It took him several minutes to realize just what he was looking at. This was like looking in a mirror. The other figure was almost exactly like HIM! Only…_

_A smirk graced the paler than human face. Veins easily discernable in the features of the pale skin. Cold yellow eyes gleamed in perverse pleasure as Revan realized that this figure was not him. It was a dark version of him. "I will not fall to the darkside!" Revan's yell was confident, but there was still a hint of fear. _

_Sensing the fear, the creature struck. "__**You will not fall you say?**__" It took a step closer, eyes glinting in cruel amusement as Revan stepped back. "__**You have already fallen,**__" it stated. Speaking openly of the fear Revan held in his heart. "__**I am already a part of you**__. __**I am the rage in your heart. The hatred you've fed with blood and war. I have been here with you since the beginning. I have been waiting for this for a long time, Partner. I've given you pieces of my power through your rage, to aid you in combat. To slaughter those foul Mandalorians. Now it is time. You will join me in darkness and we will become unstoppable!**__"_

_Revan stumbled away from the creature. During its entire speech he had been shaking his head. This thing had been the source of his strength? This evil thing was already a part of him? Doubts and fears swirled relentlessly through his head. Was everything he had done up till this point a lie? Was he nothing but a monster in wait? "__**Come**__," said the soft, seductive voice of his darker half. "__**We were meant for this path. We will become great. The light is weak. No matter how much light you have, you can never erase the shadows. Embrace them, and we will rule!**__"_

_That was true. Despite the belief that the sith were gone, the council still claimed to sense a darkness beyond the outer rim. Even when sith hadn't been seen for millennia, jedi would fall to the dark side and recreate the sith order. The darkness never seemed to wane, to disappear. "__**How about I show you something, Partner?**__" The shade asked with a mocking leer. Looking up, Revan watched the shadowy tendrils around them part. As the shadows shifted to the side he could see. _

_Temples of stone and many shadowy figures practicing sword katas. These same figures calling forth storms of lightning and destruction from the depths of the force. Ships and droids and warriors. It was a vision. A vision of an army. An army of sith. These sith were waiting. Soon, they would return to attack the Republic. Soon, they would destroy everything._

_And, as suddenly as it had come, the vision stopped. "__**You see, Partner? Those sith are gonna destroy this Republic you've fought so hard for. The jedi wouldn't even attack the Mandalorians. What will they do against true evil? Nothing. As usual, it'll be up to somebody else to stop them. We could stop them. I can stop them. LET ME FREE!**__"_

_Startled by the yell, Revan was further surprised when the shade shot forward and began to attack him. Turning Revan ran. He stumbled through darkness, blindly feeling his way as he tried to escape this dark shadow of himself. Revan was completely off balance from what he had seen and been told. He was afraid and he was running like a coward. And worse than any of that, he knew it. Panting for breath, he lay on his hands and knees. _

"_**What are you doing down there, Partner?**__" The voice came from behind him and Revan instantly jumped to his feet. Turning he came face to face with his shadow again. "__**You're the great leader the Republic has been following? You're pathetic. You'd be nothing without me!**__"_

_The shade was hoping to further enhance Revan's fear, but the reminder of what he was responsible for pushed all fear away. Revan had been in tight spots before. He had been afraid before. But he still had his responsibilities and had used that to push his fear away. It didn't matter the odds. Whatever he was facing didn't matter. Even if the thing was a part of h… wait. This shade is a PART of him? Suddenly it all made sense to Revan. Light and dark strengthened the other. They were opposites but they were equal. You could only tell something was dark by comparing it to a light nearby. The same worked in reverse. There was darkness in him. It had been a part of him forever. The jedi only used the light and the sith only used the dark. _

_Then what would happen, Revan questioned himself, if I controlled both? Would I be stronger than jedi and sith? Could I stop the army? I would have a better chance if nothing else. This thing is my darkness, it was feeding off my fear to grow stronger and take over but it can't. I can't retain control anymore either. I can't afford to be divided into two parts of equal power. I need one part of greater power. "__**What's that thoughtful look mean, Partner? What happened to all that delicious fear?**__"_

_The words jolted Revan from his contemplations. With a singular purpose he began to stride forward. "You are a part of me." The shade was confused, but it assumed he was giving up so it smiled and nodded its head. "You are a part of me," this time it was said with more force. Another, less certain nod answered this time. "YOU ARE A PART OF ME AND YOU DARE TO THINK YOU CAN CONTROL ME? GO BACK TO WHERE YOU BELONG!" Before the shade could react Revan reached out and pulled it into him. He kept pulling, even as the dark energy of the shade burned against the light within him. He could feel himself changing, but the shade was changing too. Slowly a bright light consumed the shadowy field where Revan and his dark side confronted one another. And then it was gone. _

In reality, not even a moment had passed. Revan's body had just begun its descent towards the ground. Eyes closing. In a heartbeat, a foot shot out to steady his falling body. In a breath, eyes slightly glazed with a yellowish sheen open. In a second Revan drew in a deep breath. In a moment, that breath was released, and with it a torrent of power beyond imagination. In an instant, Revan had indeed been reborn. Just as the shade had said. He was Greater and more powerful than ever before. No, not Revan. Revan was a jedi who only used the light side of the force. Who limited his own power, by only using the supposed 'good' half of it. Revan was dead. On the ancient sith home of Malachor, a new being arose. Not a sith who only used the dark or 'evil' side of the force. Not a jedi who only used the light or 'good' side of the force. On Malachor V, Darth Revan opened stood tall a smile gracing his slightly paler features. The Mandalorians were on the way? The ancient sith were gathering at the edge of the galaxy? Oh, those fools wouldn't know what hit them.

**Sorry this is so short but it's been awhile since I updated so I figured I'd give you guys a bone. Ever since I played the game I always saw Revan's alignment as something like this. He doesn't strike me as being light or dark. For those who don't understand why he's more powerful now think about it. Let's say you could measure force connection in numbers. Well, let's say Revan had a force connection of about 20,000. If he's only using the 'light side' of that connection he's only actually using 10,000. Same with dark. But if he's using both at once then he's using the whole 20,000. I don't know if that's how it actually works but that's how I'm making it work. Jedi and sith both limit themselves to half their potential in my story. Meanwhile, Revan is capable of using all of his own, and he was well above average to begin with. This will explain his power. Don't worry, he won't single handedly win a war but let's face it. In the game he tore through the Star Forge pretty much by himself. He's gotta have some impressive power. This is just how I explain such a huge gap between him and everybody else. Deal with it.**

**Anyway Read and Review!**


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